Damien opened his eyes to the view of an endless dark dotted with innumerable pinprick lights. What the...? He frowned, blinked and then did it again multiple times before he finally came to grips with his surroundings. He was in a room made of some kind of black stone... Darker than the darkest color he'd ever come across. The wall, without any sign of adjoining, seamlessly melded with the floor... Or as he looked closer, saw that the floor and the wall weren't simply just adjoined but of the same material. Like he was in the inside of a bowl.

The ceiling, instead of the usual ones he was used to, was made of an illusion so realistic that he struggled to comprehend it. In fact, he couldn't. His eyes only saw, but his brain understood nothing.

"You're awake." Somebody said beside him, and Daimen sharply turned at the voice. His eyes opened wide as he saw Keilan sitting on a chair beside his bed.

Damien was off the bed so fast his vision turned woozy, but he didn't care. He slammed into Keilan like an out-of-control cart, engulfing him in a tight hug.

"I feared you weren't going to make it." He whispered.

Damien's body shook as Keilan chuckled. "I thought so too, brother," Keilan said while he gently patted Damien on the back. His gentle pat then turned a little bit harder when Damien refused to release him. "Uhh, Dame? I'm fine, but you're going to suffocate me if you keep hugging me so tight."

Damien jerked backward, eyes widening. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so—"

"That's okay." His brother interrupted. "I'm injured, not dying."

"You were dying, Kei."

"Yes, but that isn't the case anymore, is it?" He grinned widely. "Anyway, enough about me. I see you like your new view." He nodded up at the illusion swirling in the sky. Damien hadn't been in space before, but he'd spent hours gazing into it, and he could swear that this illusion was a near replica of the cosmos. Like they were truly deep in space. It was breathtaking.

"Yeahh," he said uncertainly. "Where are we?"

[Somewhere safe,] Gray popped up beside him. He was putting on an elaborate robe instead of the crisp suit he usually wore, which made him look more wisely?. Damien didn't know why, but a feeling of guilt crept in as he stared at Gray.

He opened his mouth to utter some kind of apology even though he didn't know why, but all that came out of his mouth was. "I lost."

Silence reigned for a few seconds, and the Gray said. [Yes. Yes, you did.]

"And now I'm hiding..."

[Yes.] Gray sighed and then frowned, murmuring. [When did I start adopting human mannerisms?... Anyway, back to you. A loss doesn't mean the end. You can learn from it... And should. What you should understand now is that a loss isn't meant to push you down; it's meant to bring you up. You learn from it, and then next time, you make sure not to make the same mistakes.]

"Yeah... What he said." Keilan nodded at Gray. "Damien, you can't let a single loss hold you back."

"I failed." Was what Damien said. "You destroyed the three assassins sent after you and I... I couldn't ev—"

"I will punch you if you finish that sentence, Dame," Keilan growled. "Do you hear yourself right now? I killed three assassins, but so what? I almost died. Almost. But you, you..." He barked a laugh. "Gray told me about the ones that went after you. Five, Dame. Five assassins. That's a entire cadre, a force probably no one besides a Spirit King could fight off, and you came out the victor. And shortly after that, you took on fifteen empire pillars all by yourself, including the Emperor himself. Damien, If that isn't already broken, I don't know what is."

Damien's mind went back to that moment. For some reason, the memory felt distant and distorted, like it belonged to someone else and he was just looking through a memory crystal.

Damien remembered the things he did, the monstrous acts he committed. He'd spent basically all his life fighting against monsters who killed innocents without reason, and now... And now he'd become one. A monster he fought.

"I killed those people," he whispered. "Innocent people, and I erased them. They didn't attack me nor did anything that I found overly offensive... they were just under the protection of those that did, but that didn't stop me. I'm a monster."

A sigh. "Dame, you're fragile now, and me feeding you lies to sate your morality dilemma would be tying a bleeding wound with a piece of clothe and hoping that it doesn't eventually rot, so I'm going to be frank.

"We're all monsters. Nobody gets to Spirit lord without the blood of innocents on their hands. A lot of us have accepted it and are learning to mitigate those kinds of deeds in the future. But Damien, you can't prevent what you fail to accept. That's all I'm going to say. You have to learn to accept loss to prevent loss."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Damien chuckled, "You're a terrible adviser, Keilan."

The other man shrugged. "Hey, I do my best."

Damien turned to Gray. "So, when are we going back?"

[We're not.]

"What?" Damien and Keilan exclaimed at once.

[Look, that world is a backwater, without any connection whatsoever outside its star system. Hell, I sometimes wonder how the cults found that place.] Seeing the look on their faces, Gray sighed. [You can't get anything tangible from that place. It's best to simply leave and start ov—.]

"Hold on, hold on," Damien interrupted. "Before we move towards the craziest relocation plan you've no doubt extensively planned out, I want to know... where are we?"

"We are outside of your planet, at a temporary abode I built in the unreal," a voice answered, one that wasn't Gray.

Both Damien and Keilan jumped at the voice, sharply turning towards a location that they were very certain was empty a second ago. And out of the dark corner came a man, at least that was what Damien assumed he was, seeing as he looked five years younger than he and Keilan, barely past twenty.

His hair was the color of night. Not dark. Night. It was so dark Damien believed it could beat the color black In a contest. It was slicked all the way to the back of his head, with only a single strand hanging over his left eye.

He was putting on a simple black shirt and pants which looked ordinary, but somehow, Damien found himself stumped on their real worth.

Aside from those, though, what drew him were the eyes. The man's eyes were the color of sapphire... A round glassy orb of burning sapphire. And on both orbs were what Damien instantly recognized as a single rune. That was the last thing he saw before all went dark.

----------------------------------------

When Damien came to, he was back on the bed, looking at the illusory thing on the ceiling. He groaned as he attempted to stand up, and then had to lay back down as he was assaulted by a sharp headache.

"Why am I in bed?" Someone groaned beside him and he turned to see Keilan laying on another bed beside his. Damien frowned... He could have sworn there hadn't been any space on that side of the bed, talk less of another bed.

[You looked into the true eyes of an Ascendant.] Gray popped up beside him, again.

"What?"

[You looked into the true eyes of an Ascendant,] Gray repeated. [You're lucky he had to put you out before you looked any longer, or else you'd be dead.]

Instead of feeling terror or dread, Damien laughed. The others turned towards him with different expressions of confusion, but Damien didn't care. He laughed so hard tears began streaming down his eyes.

"The irony. Me escaping from a battle with half the most powerful Spirit lords on the planet, only for me to die in the hands of my savior?"

[Yeah. Haha. Funny.]

"I've looked into your eyes before, Gray. It didn't do what his did."

"That's because your minder here isn't a true Ascendant." The stranger answered.

Finally calming himself, Damien looked towards the man-kid? Who was standing opposite his bed with arms folded. "Who are you?"

The man was quiet for a while, head cocked, before he answered. "My name is Merak."

Damien didn't stutter out his question. He was too mentally fucked up at the moment to care whether he lived or died. "Gray said you're an Ascendant?"

"I am."

"Why are you helping us?"

"Because it's my job."

[Ohh, for Celestial's sake. You both are so terrible at introduction.] Gray interrupted. [Damien, this is Merak. He's an Ascendant and also your protector.]

"Wait, protector?" Keilan said. "I thought you were his protector."

[I am his minder, not his protector. I do not have the skills for that.]

"What's he protecting me from? I don't think you'd fight a couple of Spirit lords and one Spirit King for me, would you?"

"No," Merak said flatly. "I will not."

"Then what are you protecting me from?"

[That's the thing, Damien. If you have to discover what he's protecting you from, then you're already doomed.]

"Where's Adrian?" Keilan said, instantly drawing the attention of everyone.

"What?"

"Where is Adrian?" Keilan turned towards Gray. "You said we were moving, I want to know why Adrian isn't here?"

Gray blinked once, and the twice, and then he began stuttering. [Uhhh... Umm... Yeah...]

"The child will not be going with you," Merak said.

"What did you just say?" Damien stood up, all the mental pain vanishing.

"I will not repeat myself."

Out of nowhere, a faint howl echoed as a gust of wind began swirled into the room. And just as it started, it immediately vanished.

Damien rushed towards Keilan as he began coughing out blood. "Don't just stand there, help him!" He didn't know what to do, so he simply patted Keilan on the back. Maybe it could help... He didn't know. He was already going into a full-blown panic when a light, pinky size, came out of nowhere and melted into Keilan's chest, and instantly, the coughing ceased.

"That should be a sufficient warning not to channel essence till you're fully healed," Merak said. "Presently, your spirit is so torn up I'm surprised you aren't dead, or worse, spiritually paralyzed. You have done the impossible, and sometimes, doing the impossible comes with a price. So until you're fully healed, no wielding. Understand?"

Keilan nodded.

"I haven't forgotten about Adrian. Where is he?"

"Look, child. Where you're heading, you'll need all your strength just to keep yourself from becoming a slave to someone, and trust me, I will not intervene if you're enslaved. Honestly, I shouldn't have intervened in your last battle. This one," he jerked his head at Keilan. "Is already helpless as it is, so he's going to need your help. You cannot juggle two helpless people at once, especially if one needs a constant handholding for everything."

Damien stared into the man's eerie blue orbs. The runes were gone now, leaving only plain, simple, sapphire orbs. "Yes, I can."

Merak didn't take his eyes off Damien's. "Here's what's going to happen. You'll either do as I advise and simply go, or you'll be incapacitated and then moved like an unruly child. Your choice." He then sighed. "I do promise you the safety of the child. And I assure you, I keep my promises."

Damien didn't accept it, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. So he consoled himself with the fact that he'd come back someday, no matter how long.

"This isn't over."

"Yes it is. And Damien? Let me let you in on an advise: not all Ascendants are as forgiving as I, and Spirit Kings less so. The tongue is as much a weapon of mass destruction as self destruction."

"Where are we going to?" Keilan said.

Gray jumped in. [We're heading to the Lese World Cities.]

"The what now?"

"Lese World Cities," Merak said. "Unlike your previous home, you're going to have plenty of opportunities to grow there. And you're in good timing too."

"For what?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Merak waved his hands and out of nowhere came a swirling portal of blue, purple and black. "Now get going, I have other business to attend to."